The Department of Pediatrics is one of the largest departments within the School of Medicine with approximately 171 Faculty, 50 post-doctoral fellows (both MDs and PhDs) along with over 300 support staff (not including hospital staff). In addition, the Department has 57 clinical residents and fellows distributed across the Divisions. The missions of research, education and patient care are intertwined, and are integral to the goals of the department.

The Department has undergone significant growth in recent years with a consolidated budget of approximately $106 million including sponsored projects expenditures of approximately $54 million and clinical revenue of over $ 52 million. This expansion of the Department's research and clinical portfolio is expected to continue in the next few years.

The Department's 16 divisions include Academic General Pediatrics, Child Development & Community Health; Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology; Cardiology; Dysmorphology; Emergency Medicine; Endocrinology; Gastroenterology; Genetics; Genome Information Sciences; Hospital Medicine; Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics; Infectious Diseases; Neonatology; Nephrology; and Respiratory Medicine.

In 2001, physicians and leadership of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Rady Children's, and Children's Specialists of San Diego (CSSD) unified pediatric patient care, research, education and community service programs, creating a university-affiliated children's health system to serve the region. Over the past two decades, an extensive list of joint programs has developed, with many physicians and researchers playing a role at both institutions.

This affiliation has consolidated the clinical, teaching, research and public service programs of the UCSD School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics with San Diego's only health care system dedicated to the health and well-being of children. In 2009, this partnership was furthered by the creation of Rady Children's Specialists of San Diego, a Medical Foundation, and is now recognized as having global leaders in research, technology, translational medicine, education and clinical excellence.

The incumbent will work on longitudinal cohort studies with the goal to understand immune development in infants and children, how the environment the babies grow up in affects the bacterial community in their gut/intestine, how these communities influence the child's immune development, and how repeated exposure to pathogens such as influenza or COVID-19 impact their immune systems. The Immune responses will be examined through blood sample analysis.

The incumbent will be responsible for performing blood draws on the study participants in infants as young as 2 months through adulthood. Incumbent will complete study forms for each subject's visit; label specimens and prepare them for storage and/or transport; and process blood by centrifugation and pipetting as well as retrieve and record accurate legible data from study participants. Incument will be expected to perform home visits. Maintains clean and safe equipment follow standard safety policies. Disposal of sharps s and bio-hazardous waste bags. Follows basic infection control procedures and universal precautions. Training in the responsible conduct of human research will be a requirement for working on this study.

• Certified Phlebotomist and hold a valid California Phlebotomy license (CPT).

• Demonstrated ability to perform venipuncture/phlebotomy on young infants and children.

• Proven ability to perform venipuncture/phlebotomy on patients with difficult venous access.

• Knowledge of universal precautions for handling blood specimens and basic infection control principles.

• Knowledge of general laboratory techniques such as pipetting, centrifuge utilization, labeling tubes, etc.

• Skill and compassion to interact positively and constructively with study participants from diverse backgrounds.

• Bilingual in Spanish and English.

• Knowledge of how to safely and effectively store and transport biological specimen to various laboratories.

• BART or BLS at time of hire with commitment to get BART within six (6) months of hire date, preferred.

• Employment is subject to a criminal background check and pre-employment physical.

• Must be willing to work a flexible schedule, including evenings and weekends.

• Must be willing to perform home visits in the Los Angeles area.

• Must be willing to visit patients with COVID-19, with proper personal protective equipment.

• Must have reliable transportation.